U.S. Stocks Rise Friday Even as Bond Market Pressure Persists

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Friday and trimmed their losses from what had been a shaky week. The gains came even though the bond market, which has been the center of Wall Street's action in recent sessions, remained jumpy and continued to apply pressure.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.4% for just its second gain in the six days since setting its all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) jumped 517 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) climbed 0.4%.

Ross Stores leads after stronger quarterly results

Ross Stores (ROST) helped lead the way and rose 4.4% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Ross sells name-brand apparel and home goods at steep discounts through its Ross Dress for Less stores, part of the off-price segment that has long appealed to budget-conscious shoppers. CEO Jim Conroy said the retailer saw both an increase in new customers and more interest from existing customers, while at the same time benefiting from refunds on tariffs — a meaningful offset for a retailer, given that tariffs have been a recurring cost pressure for merchants that import much of their merchandise.

Most U.S. companies have reported bigger profits for the spring than analysts expected, which has helped drive stocks to records recently. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term. Hopes for continued profit growth got a boost from a preliminary report by S&P Global — its early, or "flash," read on U.S. business activity from purchasing managers — suggesting growth hit a 52-month high.

Bond yields climb despite Treasury buyback

But the other big lever that helps set stock prices — interest rates — has been much shakier. After soaring through the summer and then hesitating following this week's surprise move by the U.S. Treasury Department to repurchase more U.S. government bonds, yields climbed further on Friday. A buyback removes some debt from the market, which tends to lift bond prices and push yields down — the mechanism behind the push to bring longer-term rates lower.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.73% from 4.69% late Thursday. The 10-year serves as a benchmark that helps set borrowing costs on mortgages, auto loans and corporate debt, so its moves ripple through the wider economy. It is back above its level from before the Treasury market made its move, which analysts said at the time would likely have only a temporary effect — leaving the durability of the buyback's effect a central question for markets. The 30-year Treasury yield, which the Federal Reserve is also targeting with its bond repurchases, also rose and is near its highest level since 2007.

Contributing to Friday's climb in bond yields was continued uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again. That pushed oil prices higher, which affects Treasury yields because it increases worries about inflation. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil settled at $92.67, up 0.8%.

Besides inflation, concerns about the fast-rising debt for the U.S. government have also been sending yields upward. Higher yields can slow the economy and undercut prices for all kinds of investments.

Bitcoin and crypto stocks lead Wall Street

One of the biggest beneficiaries of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's move to try to get longer-term yields lower is bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies often rise when interest rates are lower and more money is flowing through the financial system. Hopes for legislation in Washington to help the crypto industry have also helped it.

Bitcoin has climbed above $77,000 from less than $63,000 a week ago. That helped stocks in the crypto industry lead Wall Street. Robinhood Markets, whose trading app is popular with retail investors and offers crypto trading, jumped 13.7%, and Coinbase Global, which runs one of the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges, gained 8.2%.

Gold and miners advance

The price of gold also climbed and briefly topped $4,690 per ounce from less than $4,440 a week earlier. The Treasury Department's buyback announcement has helped weaken the U.S. dollar's value against other currencies, which tends to give gold's price a boost. That helped drive stocks of miners higher. Newmont, the world's largest gold producer, climbed 3.1%, and Freeport-McMoRan, a major copper and gold miner, jumped 7.6%.

Those gains helped offset a 5.2% drop for OSI Systems, which sells security screening equipment to airports and other specialized electronic systems. It reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and CEO Ajay Mehra said it was hurt by "the Middle East conflicts which shifted the timing of certain planned deliveries."

Boston Beer sank 2.6% after the seller of Samuel Adams and Dogfish Head said its chief financial officer is leaving the company and announced an interim replacement.

Closing numbers and overseas markets

All told, the S&P 500 rose 33.21 points to 7,674.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 517.80 to 53,277.01, and the Nasdaq composite added 113.29 to 26,180.45.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in much of Asia and Europe. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.2%, and South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.9% for two of the world's bigger moves.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.